A federal judge blocked what would have been the largest timber sale in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest in decades.<\/p>\n
Wednesday’s ruling ends the U.S. Forest Service’s plan to open 37.5 square miles of old growth forest on Prince of Wales Island to commercial logging, CoastAlaska reported.<\/p>\n
The ruling by Judge Sharon L. Gleason also stops road construction for the planned 15-year project.<\/p>\n
Conservationists had already successfully blocked the federal government’s attempt to clear large amounts of timber for sale without identifying specific areas where logging would have occured.<\/p>\n
Gleason allowed the forest service to argue in favor of correcting deficiencies in its review and moving forward without throwing out the entire project, but ultimately ruled against the agency.<\/p>\n
Gleason’s ruling said the economic harm of invalidating the timber sales did not outweigh “the seriousness of the errors” in the agency’s handling of the project.<\/p>\n
The method used in the Prince of Wales Landscape Level Analysis was the first time the agency used it for environmental review on an Alaska timber sale.<\/p>\n
The forest service, which can appeal the decision, did not return calls seeking comment.<\/p>\n
Gleason’s decision affects the Prince of Wales Island project and the Central Tongass Project near Petersburg and Wrangell.<\/p>\n
The ruling triggers a new environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act, said Meredith Trainor, executive director of the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council.<\/p>\n
The ruling in the lawsuit brought by the council includes a requirement for public input on specific areas proposed for logging, Trainor said.<\/p>\n
Tess Axelson, executive director of the Alaska Forest Service, said in a statement that the ruling “threatens the viability of Southeast Alaska’s timber industry.”<\/p>\n
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